The "bio" below is, obviously, a "work in progress."
Jim Royse's brief life was not "untroubled." He apparently dropped out of high school after his sophomore year; after enlisting in the United States Marine Corps, he was let go due to a physical disability involving his left eye; and his parents were separated and possibly divorced when he disappeared. On his death certificate from 1962, the coroner wrote that it was ". . . unknown whether he was pushed or fell . . . to his death. It is unclear if or why the coroner did not consider "suicide" in his determination.
Here are the remarks shown on his death certificate - posted elsewhere on this memorial:
"Exact cause of death unknown; missing since Nov 25, 1961; unknown whether he was pushed or fell; found at bottom of an abandoned water tower; 135 ft; all tissues destroyed except bones; no fractures found in bones."
Hugh Owens, the coroner, established the "time of injury" (item #20c) as the date of James' disappearance - Nov. 25, 1961. The date shown in item #4 of the certificate - Aug. 30, 1962 - reflects merely the date that James' skeletal remains were positively identified by the authorities. The actual date of death would most likely be the date of his disappearance - as reported by his mother for the certificate (item #17).
James' remains were prepared for burial by the licensed embalmer and funeral home operator Blaine E. Weilert. They were later removed to the cemetery in his mother's hometown of Horton in extreme northeast Kansas.
His "usual residence" (item #2) was shown as 101 E. 85th St. (85th & Walnut, behind the streetlight) in Kansas City, MO at the time although James himself may have been living above his mother's beauty shop located at 7506 Troost Ave. in Kansas City. She most likely maintained an apartment above the shops on the northeast side of this retail/apartment complex. Perhaps she and Stanley were separated or divorced at the time of Jim's disappearance.
For a short account of the discovery of James' remains, click here. (pgs.82-83)
According to a newspaper article published the afternoon following the early-morning identification of Jim's remains, the boys - unnamed in the article - who had made the initial discovery a few days earlier were afraid to tell their parents, fearing punishment for climbing the tower. But they did tell their circle of friends: "One of those who was told about it was Mary Kay Civello, 15, of 7330 Forest avenue. The girl told her mother, Mrs. Angela Civello. Thinking the tower might still be a part of the city water system, Mrs. Civello notified police about 7:30 o'clock last night." (Published in the August 30, 1962 edition of the Kansas City STAR, pg. 2.)
[Mrs. Civello apparently shared a common misconception about water towers. Their main purpose is not to supply drinking (potable) water to the populace. It is, rather, to supply water PRESSURE. Here is the Wikipedia article. T.N.]
And here is an excerpt from an article published in the Kansas City Star on March 11, 2009. The article, titled Group Wants to Improve a Towering Landmark, concerns efforts to preserve and possibly repurpose the Waldo Water Tower. The author is reporter Matt Campbell:
"The tower was the site of a disturbing scene in August 1962 when neighborhood boys climbing on the structure discovered what looked like a body at the bottom.
Firemen worked through the night with grappling hooks trying to retrieve it. Spectators numbered in the hundreds and police used dogs to patrol the crowd, according to a newspaper account.
Only a handful of people remained by morning when the skeletal remains were brought out through a hole that had been opened near the bottom of the tower. The location of the hole can still be seen on the west side of the tower.
The victim was identified as a 20-year-old man who had last been seen in November. Water employees said the only way he could have ended up at the bottom of the tower was through one of the ventilating windows near the top. It was a drop that would be fatal, detectives said. There were only a couple of feet of rain water in the tower."
To see a ground-level view of the tower - looking west - and its surroundings, click here. And be sure to use the "Rotate" tool in the lower right-hand corner.
Jim Royse's brief life was not "untroubled." He apparently dropped out of high school after his sophomore year; after enlisting in the United States Marine Corps, he was let go due to a physical disability involving his left eye; and his parents were separated and possibly divorced when he disappeared. On his death certificate from 1962, the coroner wrote that it was ". . . unknown whether he was pushed or fell . . . to his death. It is unclear if or why the coroner did not consider "suicide" in his determination.
Here are the remarks shown on his death certificate - posted elsewhere on this memorial:
"Exact cause of death unknown; missing since Nov 25, 1961; unknown whether he was pushed or fell; found at bottom of an abandoned water tower; 135 ft; all tissues destroyed except bones; no fractures found in bones."
Hugh Owens, the coroner, established the "time of injury" (item #20c) as the date of James' disappearance - Nov. 25, 1961. The date shown in item #4 of the certificate - Aug. 30, 1962 - reflects merely the date that James' skeletal remains were positively identified by the authorities. The actual date of death would most likely be the date of his disappearance - as reported by his mother for the certificate (item #17).
James' remains were prepared for burial by the licensed embalmer and funeral home operator Blaine E. Weilert. They were later removed to the cemetery in his mother's hometown of Horton in extreme northeast Kansas.
His "usual residence" (item #2) was shown as 101 E. 85th St. (85th & Walnut, behind the streetlight) in Kansas City, MO at the time although James himself may have been living above his mother's beauty shop located at 7506 Troost Ave. in Kansas City. She most likely maintained an apartment above the shops on the northeast side of this retail/apartment complex. Perhaps she and Stanley were separated or divorced at the time of Jim's disappearance.
For a short account of the discovery of James' remains, click here. (pgs.82-83)
According to a newspaper article published the afternoon following the early-morning identification of Jim's remains, the boys - unnamed in the article - who had made the initial discovery a few days earlier were afraid to tell their parents, fearing punishment for climbing the tower. But they did tell their circle of friends: "One of those who was told about it was Mary Kay Civello, 15, of 7330 Forest avenue. The girl told her mother, Mrs. Angela Civello. Thinking the tower might still be a part of the city water system, Mrs. Civello notified police about 7:30 o'clock last night." (Published in the August 30, 1962 edition of the Kansas City STAR, pg. 2.)
[Mrs. Civello apparently shared a common misconception about water towers. Their main purpose is not to supply drinking (potable) water to the populace. It is, rather, to supply water PRESSURE. Here is the Wikipedia article. T.N.]
And here is an excerpt from an article published in the Kansas City Star on March 11, 2009. The article, titled Group Wants to Improve a Towering Landmark, concerns efforts to preserve and possibly repurpose the Waldo Water Tower. The author is reporter Matt Campbell:
"The tower was the site of a disturbing scene in August 1962 when neighborhood boys climbing on the structure discovered what looked like a body at the bottom.
Firemen worked through the night with grappling hooks trying to retrieve it. Spectators numbered in the hundreds and police used dogs to patrol the crowd, according to a newspaper account.
Only a handful of people remained by morning when the skeletal remains were brought out through a hole that had been opened near the bottom of the tower. The location of the hole can still be seen on the west side of the tower.
The victim was identified as a 20-year-old man who had last been seen in November. Water employees said the only way he could have ended up at the bottom of the tower was through one of the ventilating windows near the top. It was a drop that would be fatal, detectives said. There were only a couple of feet of rain water in the tower."
To see a ground-level view of the tower - looking west - and its surroundings, click here. And be sure to use the "Rotate" tool in the lower right-hand corner.
The "bio" below is, obviously, a "work in progress."
Jim Royse's brief life was not "untroubled." He apparently dropped out of high school after his sophomore year; after enlisting in the United States Marine Corps, he was let go due to a physical disability involving his left eye; and his parents were separated and possibly divorced when he disappeared. On his death certificate from 1962, the coroner wrote that it was ". . . unknown whether he was pushed or fell . . . to his death. It is unclear if or why the coroner did not consider "suicide" in his determination.
Here are the remarks shown on his death certificate - posted elsewhere on this memorial:
"Exact cause of death unknown; missing since Nov 25, 1961; unknown whether he was pushed or fell; found at bottom of an abandoned water tower; 135 ft; all tissues destroyed except bones; no fractures found in bones."
Hugh Owens, the coroner, established the "time of injury" (item #20c) as the date of James' disappearance - Nov. 25, 1961. The date shown in item #4 of the certificate - Aug. 30, 1962 - reflects merely the date that James' skeletal remains were positively identified by the authorities. The actual date of death would most likely be the date of his disappearance - as reported by his mother for the certificate (item #17).
James' remains were prepared for burial by the licensed embalmer and funeral home operator Blaine E. Weilert. They were later removed to the cemetery in his mother's hometown of Horton in extreme northeast Kansas.
His "usual residence" (item #2) was shown as 101 E. 85th St. (85th & Walnut, behind the streetlight) in Kansas City, MO at the time although James himself may have been living above his mother's beauty shop located at 7506 Troost Ave. in Kansas City. She most likely maintained an apartment above the shops on the northeast side of this retail/apartment complex. Perhaps she and Stanley were separated or divorced at the time of Jim's disappearance.
For a short account of the discovery of James' remains, click here. (pgs.82-83)
According to a newspaper article published the afternoon following the early-morning identification of Jim's remains, the boys - unnamed in the article - who had made the initial discovery a few days earlier were afraid to tell their parents, fearing punishment for climbing the tower. But they did tell their circle of friends: "One of those who was told about it was Mary Kay Civello, 15, of 7330 Forest avenue. The girl told her mother, Mrs. Angela Civello. Thinking the tower might still be a part of the city water system, Mrs. Civello notified police about 7:30 o'clock last night." (Published in the August 30, 1962 edition of the Kansas City STAR, pg. 2.)
[Mrs. Civello apparently shared a common misconception about water towers. Their main purpose is not to supply drinking (potable) water to the populace. It is, rather, to supply water PRESSURE. Here is the Wikipedia article. T.N.]
And here is an excerpt from an article published in the Kansas City Star on March 11, 2009. The article, titled Group Wants to Improve a Towering Landmark, concerns efforts to preserve and possibly repurpose the Waldo Water Tower. The author is reporter Matt Campbell:
"The tower was the site of a disturbing scene in August 1962 when neighborhood boys climbing on the structure discovered what looked like a body at the bottom.
Firemen worked through the night with grappling hooks trying to retrieve it. Spectators numbered in the hundreds and police used dogs to patrol the crowd, according to a newspaper account.
Only a handful of people remained by morning when the skeletal remains were brought out through a hole that had been opened near the bottom of the tower. The location of the hole can still be seen on the west side of the tower.
The victim was identified as a 20-year-old man who had last been seen in November. Water employees said the only way he could have ended up at the bottom of the tower was through one of the ventilating windows near the top. It was a drop that would be fatal, detectives said. There were only a couple of feet of rain water in the tower."
To see a ground-level view of the tower - looking west - and its surroundings, click here. And be sure to use the "Rotate" tool in the lower right-hand corner.
Jim Royse's brief life was not "untroubled." He apparently dropped out of high school after his sophomore year; after enlisting in the United States Marine Corps, he was let go due to a physical disability involving his left eye; and his parents were separated and possibly divorced when he disappeared. On his death certificate from 1962, the coroner wrote that it was ". . . unknown whether he was pushed or fell . . . to his death. It is unclear if or why the coroner did not consider "suicide" in his determination.
Here are the remarks shown on his death certificate - posted elsewhere on this memorial:
"Exact cause of death unknown; missing since Nov 25, 1961; unknown whether he was pushed or fell; found at bottom of an abandoned water tower; 135 ft; all tissues destroyed except bones; no fractures found in bones."
Hugh Owens, the coroner, established the "time of injury" (item #20c) as the date of James' disappearance - Nov. 25, 1961. The date shown in item #4 of the certificate - Aug. 30, 1962 - reflects merely the date that James' skeletal remains were positively identified by the authorities. The actual date of death would most likely be the date of his disappearance - as reported by his mother for the certificate (item #17).
James' remains were prepared for burial by the licensed embalmer and funeral home operator Blaine E. Weilert. They were later removed to the cemetery in his mother's hometown of Horton in extreme northeast Kansas.
His "usual residence" (item #2) was shown as 101 E. 85th St. (85th & Walnut, behind the streetlight) in Kansas City, MO at the time although James himself may have been living above his mother's beauty shop located at 7506 Troost Ave. in Kansas City. She most likely maintained an apartment above the shops on the northeast side of this retail/apartment complex. Perhaps she and Stanley were separated or divorced at the time of Jim's disappearance.
For a short account of the discovery of James' remains, click here. (pgs.82-83)
According to a newspaper article published the afternoon following the early-morning identification of Jim's remains, the boys - unnamed in the article - who had made the initial discovery a few days earlier were afraid to tell their parents, fearing punishment for climbing the tower. But they did tell their circle of friends: "One of those who was told about it was Mary Kay Civello, 15, of 7330 Forest avenue. The girl told her mother, Mrs. Angela Civello. Thinking the tower might still be a part of the city water system, Mrs. Civello notified police about 7:30 o'clock last night." (Published in the August 30, 1962 edition of the Kansas City STAR, pg. 2.)
[Mrs. Civello apparently shared a common misconception about water towers. Their main purpose is not to supply drinking (potable) water to the populace. It is, rather, to supply water PRESSURE. Here is the Wikipedia article. T.N.]
And here is an excerpt from an article published in the Kansas City Star on March 11, 2009. The article, titled Group Wants to Improve a Towering Landmark, concerns efforts to preserve and possibly repurpose the Waldo Water Tower. The author is reporter Matt Campbell:
"The tower was the site of a disturbing scene in August 1962 when neighborhood boys climbing on the structure discovered what looked like a body at the bottom.
Firemen worked through the night with grappling hooks trying to retrieve it. Spectators numbered in the hundreds and police used dogs to patrol the crowd, according to a newspaper account.
Only a handful of people remained by morning when the skeletal remains were brought out through a hole that had been opened near the bottom of the tower. The location of the hole can still be seen on the west side of the tower.
The victim was identified as a 20-year-old man who had last been seen in November. Water employees said the only way he could have ended up at the bottom of the tower was through one of the ventilating windows near the top. It was a drop that would be fatal, detectives said. There were only a couple of feet of rain water in the tower."
To see a ground-level view of the tower - looking west - and its surroundings, click here. And be sure to use the "Rotate" tool in the lower right-hand corner.
